First Results of the Laser-Interferometric Detector for Axions (LIDA).

We present the operating principle and the first observing run of a novel kind of direct detector for axions and axionlike particles in the galactic halo. Sensitive to the polarisation rotation of linearly polarised laser light induced by an axion field, our experiment is the first detector of its kind collecting scientific data. We discuss our peak sensitivity of 1.

A High-Finesse Suspended Interferometric Sensor for Macroscopic Quantum Mechanics with Femtometre Sensitivity.

We present an interferometric sensor for investigating macroscopic quantum mechanics on a table-top scale. The sensor consists of a pair of suspended optical cavities with finesse over 350,000 comprising 10 g fused silica mirrors. The interferometer is suspended by a four-stage, light, in-vacuum suspension with three common stages, which allows for us to suppress common-mode motion at low frequency.

Detailed investigation of the iterative analysis for inertial confinement fusion target characterization.

The iterative algorithm based on optical path difference and ray deflection (IAORD) is investigated in detail, and an advanced version (AIAORD) is proposed to obtain the refractive indices of the shell and the ice layer of the inertial confinement fusion (ICF) target simultaneously. The concept of the fixed-point iteration is introduced in the advanced algorithm, and it is found that the right choice of the combination of the input values and the characteristic curves is the key to ensure convergence in the iteration. The test uncertainties of the index measurement are analyzed by simulations, and they show that the uncertainties of the refractive indices of the shell and ice layer are 9.

ICF target DT-layer refractive index and thickness from iterative analysis.

An iterative algorithm based on optical path difference (OPD) and ray deflection is proposed to obtain the DT (deuterium-tritium)-layer refractive index and thickness of the ICF (inertial confinement fusion) target simultaneously. Starting from an assumed initial value, the refractive index and thickness are solved back and forth until the iteration stopping criterion is reached. Simulations show that the relative retrieval error of the DT-layer refractive index is better than 0.